BILLINGS, Mont., Nov. 3, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Authors Mike Majerus and Jack Nessan announce the release of the latest edition of their book, Phantom Shot, which examines news reporting of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and concludes that from the outset, the media misstated the number of shots fired by Lee Harvey Oswald. The press reported that three shots were fired when in fact there were only two. The resulting confusion fueled countless conspiracy theories that still persist half a century later.
Dozens of key eyewitnesses reported hearing only two shots, including Jackie Kennedy, Secret Service Agent Clint Hill, Abraham Zapruder, and Bonnie Ray Williams, who was only ten feet from Oswald's rifle during the shooting. John Connally, who was sitting directly in front of President Kennedy, told the Warren Commission, "I didn't hear but two shots." The FBI knew within months of the assassination that there was physical evidence of only two bullets fired on November 22, 1963, but the information was locked away in the National Archives and not released to the American public. Government investigators deliberately ignored the statements of eyewitnesses who said they only heard two shots, including top Kennedy aides and those who were closest to the president during the shooting.
Phantom Shot traces the source of the erroneous reports to White House correspondent Merriman Smith. In his haste to be first to report the shooting, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist made a crucial error when he called in this bulletin to UPI: "Three shots were fired at President Kennedy's motorcade today in downtown Dallas." It appeared on teletypes around the world within four minutes of the shooting and was the first bulletin broadcast to a stunned nation by Walter Cronkite. The first two words stuck in the public consciousness: "Three shots." The bulletin started a chain reaction of nonstop press reporting of three shots, which caused eyewitnesses who initially reported hearing two shots to later change their stories to add a third shot. Over time it became an accepted "fact" that three shots were fired.
Conspiracy theorists have long argued that there must have been more than one assassin because Lee Harvey Oswald did not have enough time to fire three shots using his bolt-action rifle. But, says Phantom Shot, he had plenty of time to fire two shots. Because the American public had in effect been brainwashed to believe that three shots were fired, the Warren Commission, though acknowledging that Oswald may have only fired twice, concluded that he likely fired three shots and that one of his shots missed. The missed shot never happened, say the authors. It was a "phantom shot."
This startling new theory of the JFK assassination is at odds with the conclusions of every prior investigation. One shooter. Two shots. Two hits. No misses. The simple but true solution to one of the most baffling mysteries in American history.
Author Mike Majerus may be reached at 406-690-7311 or Email. For additional information visit www.phantomshotjfk.com.
Phantom Shot is available at online bookstores and the Kindle version is available at Amazon.com.
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